Leader of the Pack

by Torch

Fronting a band is not a job that everyone can pull off. Something magical happens to a person who steps on a stage and takes the audience for a musical ride. For most bands, the lead singer is also the band manager until they reach a point that they can hire someone else to take over. This requires dedication to learning the music business: booking, promoting, and keeping the band together, informed, and perfecting their sound. There are so many factors to consider when you look at the bandleader. The leader drives the style, the interaction with the audience, the success, and often even the van.

Answers by Hazel Miller- The Hazel Miller Band

Genre: Rhythm and Blues

1. I think a good front person must have stage presence, charisma, great vocal vision and style.

2. Most headliners I’ve met have an onstage and off stage persona. Life requires it for sanity. The “stage mode” starts as you prepare to go onto the stage. The show demands that you put the audience first. You let that persona “go” when you reach the dressing room. Real life demands your attention to business.

3. I have an agent and I still do some booking. If your band is not very busy, the booking can be done by the band. A well-organized bandleader can do all the booking with the aid of several agents.

4. The bandleader or music director calls the rehearsals for my band. We schedule the rehearsals at the same time each week for convenience.

5. I will eat light, or not at all, before the show because I don’t want to feel full while I’m singing. Burping through the first few songs is frowned on. I prefer to eat after the gig.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hazel-Miller-Band/231708334391

Friday, June 8, Jazz at Jacks in Denver

Kurt Baumann – The Burned, and Kan Nal

Genre (self-described as): “The Burned is like Pink Floyd and Chris Isaac hanging out in the desert on Peyote.”

1. For me, to be a good front person means to be able to stand up there on stage and rock it with confidence and presence that makes the crowd feel engaged, as well as a part of something special that’s happening right there and then in that particular moment. Even if the ship is going down, and a train wreck of music is unfolding, a good front person will gracefully lead the audience in a way that what is happening onstage feels absolutely perfect. A great front person is fun to watch and an inspiration for the audience, and gives them something inside to take home with them and put into their own lives. Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction did that for me many years ago and I have never forgotten that. When I saw him, I was so inspired, and do what I do today because of that moment.

2. I guess I do my best to not have a difference in my onstage persona compared to my off stage persona, although friends and family may beg to differ. There is definitely an energy that comes in onstage that is different from regular life and makes things seem bigger and more animated. For me, that kicks in as soon as I walk on stage and see the crowd there waiting. I guess that’s what it means when people say “It’s show time”!

3. At the beginning stages of a project, the band will definitely handle booking and promotion themselves, but ideally you get booking agents and a publicist on board to handle those things. You definitely lose a percentage of profits, but it allows the artist to be an artist and the business to be with those who enjoy such things.

4. The bandleader will generally call the rest of the band together to get done whatever needs to happen. That person can often be the front person, but generally it’s whoever holds the vision of the band, and is the primary songwriter. Although there are no rules, really, as to who will fall into that position, some folks are leaders and some facilitate others and help their visions come alive. It’s all a beautiful thing when it harmoniously comes together. Otherwise… well… It can be really difficult.

5. As a vocalist, eating is a very tricky thing before a gig. I make sure I eat something very clean and healthy a good two hours before the show. Nothing mucus causing, or heavy feeling, because all my energy needs to be put toward a good performance and not to digesting a bunch of grease and bread. I like organic fruits and salads, and calming teas before a show.

http://www.facebook.com/kurt.r.baumann

June 14 in Denver at the Bluebird and June 15 in Fort Collins at Hodi’s

Ryan Chrys-The Demon Funkies

Genre: Rock and Roll

1. It takes balls and drive. Laziness will not be tolerated! Some kind of attitude too, doesn’t matter what kind, good or bad, but SOME kind!

2. Hard to say, as I’d be commenting on myself, but if anything kicks in, it’s when the music does. If the sound is good and the band is on, the music will transform us.

3. I handle the majority of it in Demon Funkies, with some help from Jeremy, but I wish it was an equal contribution.

4. Any one of us does that, if anyone has something to share, learn, etc. Otherwise, I generally request practice dates before important shows.

5. Kraft mac n cheese or sushi; dunno why, but before big shows, if we have anything besides lint in our pockets, I like sushi. Most of the time there’s only lint, and I eat before going out, and mac n cheese is about the best thing I make. As for Prom King (bass player) his pre-show meal is always the same, Coors Light and Jack Daniels, and usually the bottomless or all-you-can-eat version of that–and consequently, that is my post-show meal.

http://www.facebook.com/demonfunkies

Demon Funkies, Blackouts, and Hotgun!! @ 3 Kings Tavern May 26

Lionel Young- The Lionel Young Band

Genre; Blues, Boogie Woogie

1. I know it takes charisma to lead a good band. By that, I mean that you have to be able to hold the attention of an audience as well as your band for an extended period of time. As a leader you have to sense what both need from you and give it to them.

For me, it’s more important as a front man to have a real connection to an audience. I think it’s what people are really there for, to feel connected to you and each other. As its highest purpose, music brings people together in a good way, more so than most things, especially politics or organized religion. It’s one of the great perks of playing music, when that happens. I see it often. When it really works, people come together. It gives me the feeling of doing something significant, especially at this time and this year when there are so many things pulling us apart.

2. That’s a tough question for me. In a way I do have different personas on and off stage. I’m much more extroverted when on stage during a show. Different parts of my personality do come out. In another way, I’m not anyone but me. I don’t know if there’s a transition from one to another except perhaps on stage.

3. Some of the booking I handle, but most of it at this point is handled by agents.

4. I call the band together for rehearsals and recordings.

5. I have no regular pre-show meal. Most of the time, I don’t like to eat just before I play on stage. On the other hand, I try to avoid going on stage when I haven’t eaten and my blood sugar is low.

The Lionel Young Band tours a lot but will be back in Colorado on June 11th  6:45 Rhythm/Rails Niwot, CO

http://lionelyoung.net/

Wendy Clark- Tequila Mocking Bird

Genre: Rock

1. In my opinion, a good front person (in an original or cover band) has to commit to the role completely, be an inspiring leader, have love for and mean it in every song he or she performs, have charisma and can engage an audience, have good confidence onstage with an occasional degree of nervousness prior to performing, have endurance and boundless energy, and must be generally fearless. Also must treat every show like it’s a big show even if seven people show up.

2. I definitely have an on-stage and off-stage persona, and I kick into stage persona when I step onto the stage–although I have some crazy nervous energy while we are setting up, internally, until the moment of the first beat of first song starts; that on-stage persona usually lasts until I leave the venue.

3. Currently, I handle all the booking and promotion.

4. Currently, I am the one who calls the band together for practice, meetings, recordings, etc.

5. Before a show at a club, I enjoy a beer and a water because they are very refreshing and soothing. Unfortunately, I am unable to digest food before a show.

http://tequilamockingbirdmusic.com

Friday, May 18, 2012, Sidekick’s Saloon, 2695 W 92nd Ave, Denver, CO

21+ 7:30pm , The New Tequila Mockingbird Ensemble Acoustic

Tags: Ryan Chrys, fort collins, 3 Kings Tavern, bluebird, pink floyd, sidekicks saloon, jazz at jack's, torch, leader of the pack, front person, hazel miller, rhythm and blues, kurt baumann, the burned, kan nal, chris isaac, peyote, perry farrell, jane's addiction, hodi's, the demon funkies, prom king, coors light, jack daniels, blackouts, hotgunn, lionel young, rhythm/rails, niwot, wendy clark, tequila mocking bird

Category: The Post